Station changes, route safety for double-deckers discussed at bus crash inquest

The inquest into the deadly 2019 bus crash heard there had been 11 collisions at Westboro station in the years prior to the crash. CTV’s Katie Griffin reports.

A coroner’s inquest into the deadly 2019 bus crash at Westboro Station heard that as of 2021, there had been 11 collisions at the station in the five years prior.

Gerry Forbes, an engineer who authored a report for the city in response to a road safety audit, agreed with inquest co-counsel Peter Napier on Wednesday that it was a “significant” number of incidents, given it’s on a dedicated transitway used by professional drivers.

“Eleven over five years, that’s more than two per year,” Forbes said.

The inquest heard a single-level bus slammed into a shelter overhang at Lees Station in 2003. Several people were hurt in that incident.

Judy Booth, Bruce Thomlinson and Anja Van Beek were killed when bus 8155 slammed into a bus shelter overhang at Westboro Station on Jan. 11, 2019.

Differing opinions on safety recommendations

The city accepted civil responsibility for the crash in 2020. The bus driver charged with dozens of counts of dangerous driving causing death or bodily harm was acquitted of all charges in 2021.

On Tuesday, the inquest heard about some of the safety issues identified at Westboro Station as part of the road safety audit conducted after the fatal crash, and the recommendations to address them.

The identified issues included the canopy overhang that the bus slammed into, light areas and shadows due to sun angle, the jagged rock face and wall surface protrusions, and a low curb.

• RELATED: No feasible way to reinforce bus that could have prevented consequences of 2019 Westboro crash, inquest hears

Engineering firm Parsons was retained to do the audit. The company then retained John Morrall who identified the issues and offered several recommendations. The city then hired Forbes to help assist the city in responding to the audit’s findings.

In some instances, the two had different suggestions about how best to remedy an identified concern.

The canopy the bus crashed into was “by far” the most significant issue, Morrall told the inquest. He suggested removing it all together or reducing the speed limit for buses coming into the station.

Forbes told the inquest Wednesday that his recommendation would be to mark the canopy with black and yellow striped markings like those used on low-clearance structures.

One of the biggest considerations for recommendations was the fact that the station was expected to be decommissioned in the second quarter of 2022 to make way for LRT.

The city ultimately added the markings to the canopy, but the structure was taken down as part of the construction work.

In response to issues caused by the angle of the sun that “can cause short-term visual impairment due to a sudden transition from light to dark and vice versa” Morrall recommended a sunscreen but Forbes didn’t.

Forbes also said rebuilding the curb to be higher “will not significantly change this crash risk, because of the limited effectiveness of barrier curbs in redirecting errant vehicles.”

In response to a question by presiding officer Dr. Louise McNaughton-Filion, Forbes said the combination of reducing speed for buses coming into the station and bringing the curb higher would make it safer if a bus went out of bounds.

Double-decker route safety

A panel of city employees working at OC Transpo testified about how the city verifies routes that are safe, specifically for double-decker buses, and touched on the importance of checking overhead clearances and checking for obstacles.

Matthew Wolstenholme said every street in the city is classed as cleared, not cleared, or not checked, and that information is stored in a database accessible by everyone at OC Transpo.

The database is used to manage double-decker bus operations, he said.

When it comes to potential issues on the routes, Wolstenholme used a low-hanging branch as an example of a potential hazard.

He said the bus operator would report it to the transit supervisor, who would report it to the team in operational planning, and they would work with the city’s forestry team to have the branch cut down.

If it was an urgent safety issue, the bus would be detoured, Wolstenholme told the inquest.

The inquest also heard that a bus type (single-level, articulated, double-decker) is assigned based on community need and capacity required.

The inquest continues Thursday.